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Suter, Parise: Why Not Nashville?

by
Jay Levin
/ Nashville Predators

With all the talk about Ryan Suter and Zach Parise having interest in signing with the same team during this year's free agency, pundits have started throwing around potential landing points for the two biggest names in this year's free agent class. Both Parise and Suter have listed quality of life and chance to chase The Cup year-in-year-out.

It begs the question --- why not Nashville?

Preds GM David Poile has extended offers to both. As well as Shea Weber.

Poile has forged a long reputation in the NHL as being a stand-up straight-shooter. As well as one of the more calculated, conservative GMs; he doesn't make knee-jerk decisions or off-the-cuff statements. Poile’s offers to Suter, Weber, and Parise have already accounted for the team’s budget and cap position; they’re not done as a publicity stunt, but because the team really can afford the players and ice a Stanley Cup front runner around them.

Retain Suter and Weber to the Preds defense corps and Nashville's d-men are among the deepest and most talented in the league; Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi, impressive in their NHL debuts last season, should only be better in 2012-13, and along with proven veterans Hal Gill and Kevin Klein can reduce the burden on the Suter/Weber pairing allowing the star defensemen to be even more productive. Factor in goaltender Pekka Rinne and the Preds defense matches up with the best in the league.

With Parise in the fold, the Preds offense, which ranked eighth in the NHL last season with 2.83 goals per game, easily elevates among the top-five league-wide. Parise would become the lead focus of a very deep and balanced cadre of forwards, with four lines capable of taking over a game on any given night.

Additionally, Suter and Parise can stamp their place in history during their tenure in Nashville. Win a Cup in Pittsburgh, New Jersey, Detroit and you're another Cup champion among those franchises past successes; lead Nashville to its first set of Cup titles and you stamp a permanent place in history that will never be overshadowed. As a further bonus for Suter and Weber, spend a career together as the top tandem in the league and they instantly join the conversation among the best defensive duos in NHL history.

And all of that from the comfort and down-home lifestyle that Nashville, Tennessee has to offer.

Suter and Parise can make any team a Stanley Cup frontrunner, so it's just a matter of where they choose. The personality fit and timing with organizational growth couldn't be more perfect for Suter and Parise to come to Nashville. And if NHL legacy is at the top of their priorities, then why not Nashville?